Around Town

‘Working from home’ isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it’s often synonymous with a day frittered away, as you graze on the contents of your fridge while aimlessly walking from one room to the next. And as for company, well, there’s always that nice man who comes to check the meter readings. But why work at home at all when some of London’s most impressive cultural centres, quirky little cafés and world-class museums are more than happy for you to pitch up, log on and generally make like they’re your very own office for the day? And, best of all, they won’t charge you a penny.

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Barbican Centre
Designed to accommodate hoards of culture vultures during weekends and evenings, the Barbican is Europe’s largest performing arts centre, but during the week it’s very often eerily empty and working here is like stepping on to a deserted Kubrickian film set. The Barbican lies within a wi-fi hotspot, but as the building’s walls are six feet of solid concrete, the signal is sometimes unreliable (although the library on the second floor has internet terminals). You’ll come across young writers, creatives, students and businessmen and women. Because it's sometimes so quiet, it’s also popular with people who come here to, erm… sleep.
Barbican Centre, Silk St, EC2 (020 7638 4141/www.barbican.org.uk). Barbican or Moorgate tube.

Royal Festival Hall (© Morley Von Sternberg)

Royal Festival Hall
On the south side of the river, and with a little more hustle and bustle, is The Royal Festival Hall. Most people tend to unfold their laptops on the ground floor next to the windows overlooking the Hayward Gallery, as this is where the building’s free wi-fi signal is strongest. However, if the constant onslaught of classical music and the glare from all those pristine white Apple laptops gets too much, you’ll find the very peaceful Saison Poetry Library on the sixth floor, complete with workstations.
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, SE1 (0871 663 2501/www.southbankcentre.co.uk). Waterloo tube/rail.

Camden Arts Centre
According to Time Out itself, the Camden Arts Centre has ‘the best coffee in North London’, and the pastries aren’t bad either. The café is light and airy with free wi-fi and nice big tables, but there’s also a gallery and bookshop stocked with quirky little publications that you’ll struggle to find anywhere else. The café tends to be populated by twenty- and thirtysomething creative types and there’s also a healthy smattering of gossiping pensioners with an interest in the arts; nothing too avant-garde, mind. The café opens on to a garden, where you can work among the various temporary artworks.
Camden Arts Centre, Arkwright Rd, NW3 (020 7472 5500/www.camdenartscentre.org). Finchley Rd tube.

Swiss Cottage Library

Swiss Cottage Library
Some people think the British Library is the best in London; personally I think they’ve gone a little OTT on the books. What a proper library needs is a gourmet café, a swimming pool, a gym and a climbing wall, and the Swiss Cottage Library has the whole package. This is the perfect place to spend the day working if you don’t have to be on the phone and don’t need constant internet access. And if you do, there’s always the gourmet café overlooking the pool, with its free wi-fi and not-so-free cakes. Be warned, lunchtimes can get a little gridlocked with upmarket pushchairs.
Swiss Cottage Library, 88 Avenue Rd, NW3 (020 7428 0456/www.camden.gov.uk/swisscottage library). Swiss Cottage tube.

Camera Café
I don’t know about you, but I find working in Starbucks virtually impossible – perhaps it’s the sound of all that running water… But there are loads of other quirky little cafés around town that love having people pitch up for the day and won’t hassle you to keep buying coffees. The idiosyncratic Camera Café brings a touch of Parisian eccentricity to London. The front of the café is a shop with cabinets jam packed with secondhand cameras: anything from beautiful old Leicas to restored Hasselblads. People seem to come here not just to buy cameras, but simply to chat about photography, and you’ll no doubt run into a character or two if you spend the morning here. In the back is a small but cosy café. French music is played and the walls are covered with photographs hung at jaunty angles. All the juices come freshly squeezed and the Thai food is excellent. For £1 you can use the wi-fi all day.
Camera Café, 44 Museum St, WC1 (020 7831 1566/www.cameracafe.co.uk). Russell Square or Holborn or Tottenham Court Rd tube.

Henry at Leon (© Rob Greig)

Leon
My friend Javier once told me that in Spitalfields’ Leon there’s an unspoken rule whereby the arty types sit to the right, while the suits go left, but I’m not convinced about this… Anyway, this particular branch has free wi-fi and a massive table if you need to spread out. It attracts a healthy mix of people, including City folk, art directors and copywriters from the nearby advertising agencies and young artists. It tends to get very busy at lunchtime, but before noon and after 3pm the place is virtually empty.
Leon, 3 Crispin Place, E1 (020 7247 4369/www.leonrestaurants.co.uk). Liverpool St tube/rail.